Local VFW post should obey no-smoking laws
DEAR EDITOR:
Here's an onion to the Warren VFW Post 1090 members who think they are above the law.
An organization such as this one should be setting an example of obeying state laws such as the no-smoking ban. To rack up $1,600 in fines has to amount to a lot of violations.
And to seek exemption from the fine by using the excuse that it will hurt their charitable efforts is appalling. If you can't pay the fine, don't do the crime. They should obey the law.
Dennis M. Sharp
Warren
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killtheban
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11-18-09 3:31 PM
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Had any one of these voting laws or even the court order been adhered to, the SmokeFree Workplace Act would not have been on the ballot in 2006. OoOB contends the State of Ohio was aware they did not have enough signatures. They pulled Issue 1 off the ballots after it was certified the same election year. They should have Issue 5 as well. "Clearly, the law is for sale in Ohio," stated Bill Brown, OoOB. It is the duty of the Secretary of State to certify the sufficiency of the petitions and investigate the administration of election laws, frauds.. (ORC 3501.05). This ballot issue wreaks of violations of numerous laws. The BOE employees did not do their jobs. The Secretary of State did not do his job. Someone needs to enforce the laws and pursue convictions. The lucrative industry of non-grassroots, bussed in petition companies must stop. Background checks must be done on all circulators and they must carry state-issued clearance photo ID. Circulators should not be able to co
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killtheban
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11-18-09 3:30 PM
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Memo from one Board of Elections to the SOS Office asking what to do with a petition with the sole signature dated days prior to the issuance of the petition. The reply from the SOS Office was, "If this for the Smoke Free petition-this does not invalidate an otherwise valid signature". What if it wasn't a SmokeFree Ohio petition? Expenditures for payments to petition companies not reported as such on the Secretary of State's website as an expenditure for SmokeFree Ohio, as required by law. Judge David Cain court order ignored (In re Protest of Evans Against Initiative Petition Proposing Smoke Free Workplace Act, 2006-Ohio-4690) May 4, 2006, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Cain (In re Protest of Evans Against Petition Proposing Smoke Free Workplace Act, 2006-Ohio-4690) ordered a "complete list of the circulators not employed by ACS but who listed ACS as their employer". Exhibit A contained circulators from 28 counties, invalidating between 43,403-44,664 s
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killtheban
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11-18-09 3:30 PM
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This is perhaps the most frightening part of our investigation. Felons who had been convicted of rape or who were listed on the Ohio Sexual Offender website supervised and/or collected a staggering 1,236 signatures. Whose mother or daughter unknowingly gave a rapist or sexual offender their address? Now incarcerated, one such petition circulator, with a previous felony conviction for gross sexual imposition, went to court last month for the rape of a child under the age of 13. He pled to a lesser charge. Five hundred fifty-one people gave their signatures to people who were convicted of forgery-their signatures! Circulators and supervisors also had felony convictions for drug trafficking, grand theft/theft, aggravated arson, burglary, breaking and entering, weapons, kidnapping, etc. Who let this happen? Paid circulators provided FALSE ADDRESSES The law required the circulators to provide their permanent address, not a motel (ORC 3501.48(E)(1). One circulator who travels state to
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killtheban
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11-18-09 3:29 PM
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Group Uncovers Massive Ohio Election Fraud Allege Signature Shortfall, Convicted Felon Circulators, and More * Press Release * Source: Opponents of Ohio Bans * On 1:10 pm EST, Wednesday November 18, 2009 o Buzz up! 0 o Print COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of Ohio hospitality industry business owners and concerned citizens met last Friday to discuss allegations of election fraud surrounding the SmokeFree Ohio Petition Initiative in 2006. According to an audit conducted since June, 2009 (via public records requests), Opponents of Ohio Bans has discovered multiple violations of elections laws, each of which carries penalties ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, and the blatant disregard of a court order. Glancing through over 9,700 petitions, only obvious violations were noted. OoOB was assured by a representative of the Secretary of State that we have "everything" relating to the 2006 SmokeFree Ohio Petition Ini
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BasedOnLogic
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11-18-09 12:37 PM
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Cvengros-Is over 20 years active Army and being a retired 1SG veteran enough for you. No offense to any other vets out there, but why would I want to go into any of the service organization clubs and breathe that sh!t. Smokers DO have the right to smoke and should have the right to smoke, but not at the expense of others. Please, a little clean air is nice to have.
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Aleash9
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11-18-09 11:54 AM
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its like that in all the private clubs once the door locks the ashtrays well i mean altoids containers come out and the room turns into a big puff of smoke
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thediffrence
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11-18-09 8:44 AM
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No smoking in the Casinos.
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21maira
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11-18-09 7:44 AM
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We SMOKE & We VOTE. Cigars, Cigarettes & "BOOZE" are legal. We pay enough TAXES to buy these products. Should we go BACK to 'Prohibition Days'....??? 'Private Clubs' of any kind are just that: PRIVATE.
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junkyarddog
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11-17-09 7:41 PM
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I am not a smoker. A private club should be able to write its own policies, etc. Too much government in our lives. They want to control our lives from the cradle to the grave and it's beginning to look as though they will. Revolution coming soon???
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OutsideTheBox
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11-17-09 4:46 PM
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Waaaaahhhh!! Waaaaahhhh!!!
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thediffrence
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11-17-09 2:07 PM
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Thats what the clubs are doing. There are several that still smoke inside because no one who goes there cares. Its when some outsider comes that they get in trouble. As for the 60's comment do you have a problem with it "man"? Thats the problem these days, no one wants to fight for their rights so they get taken away llittle by little. Theres always a ballot petition that can do the job as well. Just need to organize it and pass it on.
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LJC327
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11-17-09 12:44 PM
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HEY THEDIFF: YOU ARE SERIOUSLY PREPARED TO GO TO JAIL TO TO LIBERATE A SMOKER'S RIGHT TO PUFF AWAY? THAT IS SO-O-O-O 60'S, MAN! Because that's what civil disobedience is, man: openly break the law and accept punishment, openly, to call society's attention to the injustice of the law. You willing to do that? Just like Thoreau and Ghandhi and Dr. King, all of whom spent time in jail for openly flauting unjust laws? Go for it, Man, 'cause then you're my hero!!!!
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thediffrence
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11-17-09 12:11 PM
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Just because its the law doesn't make it right or haven't you learned that yet? If you don't believe in exemptions for certain businesses then get the churches to pay their taxes. If smoking was such a problem for the masses who go to bars there would have been non smoking bars to accomadate them but were ther? No because there simply isn't enough business for a non smoking bar to compete with the smoking bars. So punish everyone else to passify a few. I don't smoke by the way. If you go to a bar thats what you choose to get yourself into. The law is wrong. Civil disobedience may change it.
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Billdog
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11-17-09 12:04 PM
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The business owner owns the business. If he wants to let people smoke at his business that is his right. It is time to get government out of where it doesn't belong. If you don't like the smoke, don't go there. Simple!!! It is the same going to someones house, if you don't like the rules, don't go there. The smoking ban in bars is stupid. I don't go to many bars but the reality is that the drinking kills more people than second hand smoke does. So, don't drink and drive on my roads.
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midname
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11-17-09 11:00 AM
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I use to attend a American legion Dinner for wives and family and their was no smoking in the hall,And no one had a problem with that!If a person cant go a couple of hours without a smoke then they need help.
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BasedOnLogic
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11-17-09 10:22 AM
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I agree. Cvengros you need to put the crack pipe down and slowly back away...
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reader
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11-17-09 5:35 AM
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I agree with this letter. Don't tell me that there aren't members of the VFW who have health issues that would be aggravated by smoke. I am not an anti-smoker campaigner, but other people's rights also need to be taken into consideration. Asking a person to step outside for a cigarette is not micro-managing a life. It is simply allowing another person to breathe without carrying around an oxygen tank. And in the same line of thinking, do you think veterans should be allowed to speed because they are veterans? That is breaking the law too and our society does not believe that is micro-managing your life if you are caught doing 65 in a 45 and have to pay a fine.
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fairness
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11-17-09 5:14 AM
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GREAT letter.
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BrewSlugger
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11-17-09 1:29 AM
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I don't smoke cigarettes, but please realize Dennis, that the next step is to dictate what you can or cannot do in your own home. Google, "Smoking Ban Hits Home. Truly". Belmont, California has enacted what is "perhaps the nation’s strictest antismoking law, effectively outlawing lighting up in all apartment buildings." I don't want the government to micro-manage my life.
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